Dam and the method of constructing the same.



N. P."AMBURSEN. DAM AND. THB msmon' OFZGONSTRUGTING mums.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1912.

'Pateflted Feb. 25; 1913.

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I a 0 w 0 .N. F. AMBURSEN. DAM ANDTHE METHOD OF GONSTRUGTING' THE SAME.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 29, 1912.

Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

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65 8/0 tie/g a 65 um 'w/w ML? UNITED er-Arne ra'rnntr OFFICE.

NILS F. AMBURSEN; O1? BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO A'MBUBSEN HY- DRAULIC'CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OFBOSTON,'MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF JERSEY.

DAM AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME.

"and theMethod of Constructing the Same,

o f-whi h the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of dams especially for the purpose ofnabling water to .be z stored jduringthe construction of the dam, the arrangement and 1nethod;being such that. thewater of the stream can be held back by the darnduring the' process of building the same and without the employment of any cotter-damstructures.

Heretofore it has been customary in the construction of dams to leaye openings or sluices in the bottom to provide for the ordinary 'run of the stream or 'riv'er,;the upper structure being complete before these sluices could. be closed. When the stream is small and the dam large, and the storage capacity is intended to be of a largemagnitude, it sometimes would require a year or two to fill the pond after the'structure was complete. During thisperiod the interest on the moneylexpended becomes'a large item since the reservoir or pond cannot be used until it is entirely filled. My invention, however, provides for the. raising of the water level substantially. or practically as fast as the structure 'w'ork progresses, until the top of the dam is complete. I

While my invention as lllustratedimthe accompanying. drawings is embodied in a" reinforced concretev dam of the general con-.

struction'illustrated in United States Let ters Fatent 768,717 and 781,871, my said invention can also be embodied 'in solid concrete dams or masonry dams.

, Frequently the profile of the valley is'such" that the lower part of the pond or reservoir will be quite narrow. In such case 'and'especially when the fall of the I stream or river is steep, it requires comparatively little time to fill the-reservoir to about one* half its. final depth, or nearly so. After this level has been reached, the reservoir will fill v slowly because the area of the pond rapidly increases. Such filling of the upper half will therefore be so slow that it will not interfere with the constrnctlon of the upper Specification of Letters lzitent. Application filed May 29,

PatentedFel). 25. 1913. 1912. Serial No. 700,390.

1 'part of the dam. As hereinafter described,

it is considered better for convenience sake,

'to' build thedam'to about one-half of its height (including, of course. one or more sluices) before proceeding with the upper structure and upper sluices, so as to begin the filling of the reservoir before the upper part-of the dam is completed. If .the stream is quite small and the filling of 'the pond ,r'ery slow, the upper sluices hereinafterdescribed need not bevemp loyed. But if the risingof'the watershouldover-take the construct-ion work, -1t-'.is'de3irable to provide upper sluices to take'care of the water as hereinafter. described. These sluices can be closedpermanently or temporarily by any suitable construction of wood, concrete orsteel, or such as descrlbed in said Patent The invention consists in the improve:

ments which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings s-Figure 1 is'an elevation of a dam looking down stream Fig 2 represents asection on line 2-2 of Fig. L. Fig. 3 isa section similar 'to a portion .of Fig. 2, but omitting the barriers of the sluices. Figs. 4, 5, 6 and' '7 are views similar to Fig; 1 but on a smaller scale and'entirely diagramma'tical, indicating ditferentprogressia e steps of the construction.

The same reference 7 characters indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

In carrying out the invention 1- construct the dam having a deck 21 andsuch-buttresses 20 as may be desired. commencing at the bottom as usual-and prdviding one or more siluices 11. "The'se 'sluices will be pref erablyconstru'cted as described in Patent 7 81,871, and the construction of the dam in such manner-as described in said patentwill be continued to about elevations. A suitable flooring 19 is then laid. as indicated-in Fig. 2." The building'of the dam is then proce ded with to about .the elevation B,

formi 1g one or 101'6 sluices 12. as shown in Fig. 4, the number or sizeof saidsluices being such as to carry the ordinary flow of water. Of course, during the'gr'adual up-. building, of the dam, if, of concrete, the buttresses 20 will be included. The elevation B will be substantially the same the entire width across the stream, as indicatedin said Fig 4. The lower sluice or sluices will now bec'losed as by means of a temporary gate and a subsequently built or applied barrier or closure, as "described in said Patent 781,871, or a permanent barrier may-be oth- 7 is to be water-tight of course. During the taken the construction work.

closing of the lower sluice or sluices 11, or immediately thereafter, the dam is built higher to-the elevation C, as indicated in Fig. 1, including during the building, one or more sluices l 16. Then the sluices 12 and 13 are closed in the'same manner as has been described in connection with the sluices 11, and it may be assum-ed t-h:-1t the Water has reached the elevation B. The closing of thefsluices 12 and 13 will then cause the surplus water to run through the sluice or sluices 16 if the water has over The dam is then further builtito the level D indicated in Fig. 6 including additional sluices 14 and a 17, and as. soon as these are complete the sluices 16 and 17 will be closed, resulting in turning the' water through the sluice or sluices 14. The dam may then be built still higher as indicated in'Fig. 7 including one or more sluices 15, 18 at each'end of the dam and as soon as this is complete the.

sluices 14 and 15 will be closed resulting in turning the water through the sluice or sluices 18. Upon now-closing the latter, the structure may be completed and the reser voir filled to its full capacity.

7 It is to be understood that I'do not limit myself to the height of the dam, its shape or the material of which it is constructed, or the number of courses or the number of vertical series of sluices. The building of the dam, starting at the bottom and continiii'ng to the top while providing for the ent invention, I preferably employ the same or similar arrangement of temporary gates and permanent barriers as described in that patent. Any leakage through the tempo rary gates can be taken care of by a gutter 23 connected with a drain 2% which will prevent the washing out of cement or concrete in the permanent closure, behind the gate during construction.

In Fig. 3 the upper sluices left in the deck are all shown as open, for the purposepf facilitating an understanding of the invention. It is to be understbo d, however, that the permanent barriers '25 indicated in Fig. 2 will be built in progressively, as hereinafter described.

' It is to be understood that while I illustrate three sluices 11, and 3, or more in each of the other series 12 to 18 inclusive, there may be but one in\each location, or there may be more in each series, the number and series depending entirely on the convenience of the builder and according to the demands of the particular dammed.

I claim 1. The method .of providing for the storage of water consisting in building the ,lower portion of a dam with a sluice, continuing the building to a point sufficiently high to be above the level of r'apid accumulation, then closing said luice of the lower portion, and continuing he building of the dam to the top in advance of the rising water.

2. The method of providing for the storage of. water, consisting in building a dam With a plurality of sluices at different elevations, closing the lower sluices after the formation of the upper sluices,'and finally completing the dam.

3. The method of providing for the storage of water, consisting infirst building the' lower portion of a dam with a sluice, then building an upper portion Wltll an additional sluice, then closing the lower sluice, and then'proceeding to finish the top of they dam.

4. The method' of providing for the storage of water, consisting in first forminga comparativelv low dam having a sluice, increasing the height of the dam and providingthe higher portions with sluices, and closing the sluices successively from the bottom up.

5. A dam having a plurality of closed sluices at different elevations.

6. A dam having a closed sluice near its base, and having also closed. sluices at higher elevations near the ends.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

. 1 NILS F. AMBURSEN;

Witnesses:

C. F. BROWN, PETER W. Pnzzn'r'rr. 

